For several months now, the unions and the French people have been staging strikes and demonstrations to protest against the pension reform bill currently being debated in Parliament. These social movements do not seem to be weakening with time: on March 11, 2023, the union SUD Education affirmed in a press release its desire to continue the struggle: " The time has come to strengthen the balance of power, within an interprofessional framework, to obtain the withdrawal of the pension reform project.The education sector must play its part: a strong mobilization on the occasion of the exams would contribute to this hardening.
The strikes and demonstrations could therefore continue in the near future. In fact, calls for strikes have already been made for the week of March 20. But this week is also the week of the Baccalaureate specialty tests for high school students. So what happens if the bac candidates cannot attend these exams, or if they arrive late?
A strike causes many disruptions in daily life, especially in public transportation. These strikes are announced in advance, so late arrivals are accepted, but not absences. In the event of a problem in the transport system, a maximum delay of one hour is accepted. The test is then extended by the same amount of time. If the student is more than one hour late, he/she is considered absent and receives a 0/20.
Absences during the bac exams are only accepted under certain conditions, and the strike is not one of them. Candidates may declare themselves absent in case of illness oraccident, upon presentation of a medical certificate, and in case of death in the family, with an appropriate certificate as proof.
Please note that there is no right to strike for high school students, but they must respect the obligation to attend classes. Therefore, a student cannot declare a strike to avoid his or her baccalaureate exams.
